The Executive Director of the Kamloops Symphony says it looks like they will be able to put on the same number of shows this year compared to last year, despite the impacts of COVID-19.

Daniel Mills says all of the Symphony’s shows are being held online, telling NL News he is grateful for all of the support from the community.

“We launched our fifth virtual presentation of the year and it will be up until February 13 and its a full length concert featuring works that are folk inspired, as well as some Canadian works, and that is available on demand through our website,” Mills said.

“As we go on, we’ll be announcing further concerts throughout the year, and it looks as though we’ll be able to do the same number of concerts as we do in a normal year, which is quite remarkable, and we’re very proud of that, even if those concerts look different than they do normally.”

Mills though says a lack of ticket revenue because of COVID-19 restrictions on in-person gatherings and events will lead to a drop of about 20 to 25 per cent in revenue for the Kamloops Symphony this season.

“We’ve been very fortunate to receive a lot of funding and support from community players and donors and sponsors and all of that, but the one big thing this year of course is ticketing revenue,” he added.

“So, we’re having to adjust everything appropriately to account for that but also to still hire people and put on a season which has been the name of the game.”

To help raise money for the Kamloops Symphony, Mills finished his goal of running on every street in Kamloops between August and January in the hopes of raising at least $15,000.

“All this money that we’ve raised will go directly to increasing the size of those concerts as we finish the end of the season,” Mills said. “The pandemic has been very challenging for all artists everywhere and so its really important to us that we support them as much as possible and deliver content to the community.”

(Photo via Kamloops Symphony)